Glass fusion XVIIth century

The French eyewear industry was born in Morez in 1796 when a
modest nailsmith Pierre-Hyacinthe Cazeaux assembled an iron
frame in his workshop. His invention has become in a true indu-
strial activity.

In less than 50 years, the remote mountainous region of Franche-Comte
taking advantage of the proximity of Geneva and the East-West-European
trade routes built a flourishing industry covering all areas of optics, manu-
facturing both lenses and frames. This parallel production of both lenses
and frames is no doubt unique to France.


This multifaceted approach played a decisive rôle in the expansion of the national sector.
Thus, while a powerful corrective lenses center developed, a whole host small and medium-sized companies specialized in frames. Many of them are still active both in France and in the export market.

The real growth period for the French optics and eyewear industry began in the mid-nineteenth century

when the technology of the early Machine Age gave industrial muscle
to what was a traditional artisanal activity.

Operations remained concentrated in Haut-Jura. The production of spectacles provided an ideal craft activity for thousands of peasant-craftsmen to pursue from their farms during the long cold months when rural life came to a standstill.

At the same time, the thriving new industry transformed villages such as Morez, St-Claude, Morbier, St-Laurent and Champagnole into veritable boom towns.
They became home to large numbers of manufacturers where spectacles were assembled : in those days, they were sold in finished form, complete with corrective lenses from glass-works built in local valleys where they could harness the power of the many mountain torrents.

Thus Haut-Jura saw the emergence of whole dynasties of lens-makers, such as the one inaugurated by Auguste Lamy, whose long line of successors built up his undertaking into France's leading lens-makers, l'Amy.

By 1863, Morez alone had 18 eyewear and optical firms employing 1600 workers. Lamy & Lacroix alone had a workforce of 590 200 of whom concentrated on the manufacture of spectacles.
The French eyewear industry was set for more than half a century of outstanding growth, achieving an international pre-eminence which was only really challenged in the second half of our century.

By the end of the 1800s, the French industry was at its acme. In 1900, Morez was producing 12 million articles, and demand was still superior to production capacity.

A few years later, in the 1920s, a nearby town renowned for its comb manufactures threw itself into the adventure of eyewear. This was the beginning of a second success story, that of Oyonnax. Indeed, expansion here was even faster than in Morez, which it overtook in under three decades, becoming, for a few privileged years, the world's leading producer of spectacles.

Although only a hundred kilometers apart, the two " basins " had very different cultures when it came to optical wear. Quite simply, Morez was the homeland of steel frames, whereas Oyonnax was the great plastics specialist. The explanation is simple : the eyewear manufacturers of Morez were the descendants of the local nailsmiths who specialized in the famous " pointes de Paris " whereas those of Oyonnax were the heirs of generations of " comb-men " who, since the 18th century, had worked with horn, then celluloid and acetate.

The history of lenses parallels that of frames, despite the fact that it has a stronger scientific, rather than industrial base. The real technological breakthroughs only came about halfway through our century.

In the past, lenses crudely surfaced in " bottle glass " were considered adequate while special high-performance lenses were fitted only on scientific instruments : telescopes, magnifying glasses, compasses, etc... For a long time, the spectacle manufacturer was to be associated with cutting and
silvering mirrors. Meanwhile, gold and silversmiths cornered the market in highly worked frames which they sold alongside jewelry made for wealthy noble customers.

The slow evolution of eye-glass lenses developed significantly only towards the end of the 19th century with the advent of concave lenses for presbyopia, followed by punctual lenses, and then by the introduction of organic and progressive lenses in the mid-20th century.

As regards the French corrective lens industry, after the mushrooming of small, semi-artisanal firms in the Jura and Ile de France regions, the real take-off came with the foundation of the Société Confraternelle des Ouvriers Lunetiers in Paris in 1849.
This confederation or " house of lens-makers " was the ancestor of today's powerful Essilor group. Taking its inspiration from the social ideas of Saint-Simon, the association was founded by three small industrialists : Duez, Duriez and Muneaux.

At the outbreak the 1914-18 War, the French eyewear industry had achieved world dominance, in spite of the emergence of dynamic rivals in Germany (lenses) and America (frames).
This situation would begin to change during the interwar year as SL entered a transitional phase and lost ground to its foreign competitors. In 1927 was launched the Stigmal punctual lens which, in the words of the fledgling advertising business, offered " perfection for the eyes ".

The postwar eyewear industry was changed by Georges Lissac, an optician, industrialist and heir to a long line of spectacle makers from Morez. Everyone knows the famous shop he opened under his name on Rue de Rivoli, Paris, in 1938, one of
the first graduates of the Lycée Technique Victor Bérard in Morez, France's first optics school which was founded in 1933.

For the following thirty years, the French industry hardly moved. The professional opticians began to organize and set up the modern distribution system we know today.

The French industry split into two poles, with lenses on one side represented by the French giant in corrective and spectacles and on the other with the unstoppable rise of the manufacturers of Oyonnax, an "eyewear city" at the center of France's "Plastics Vallee".

Regarding lenses, the period saw a stunning acceleration in the pace of technological change with the advent of revolutionary products such as Lissac's Orma 1000 the first organic lens, and the famous Varilux, invented by Bernard Maitenaz and launched by the Société des Lunetiers in May 1959 ; such was the impact of this last product that, nearly 40 years later, its success is undiminished.


In 1972, the both Lissac and SL joined together and became the Essilor Group.

Fifteen years later, they were the world leader in eyeglasses. In 1974, ESSILOR was employing 5000 men and women and exports accounted for 48% of turnover. Thanks to the remarkable performance of Essilor, France is still the world market leader in lenses but is no longer first in the frames market.

And what of optics in the future ?

The global market will continue to grow for at least another twenty years as the baby boomers of the postwar years work their way up in age. Some change can be expected due to the globalization of the market.
Anyway we can expect a new deal which should give our eyewear industry a real chance to shine because French eyewear remains strong on exports. Creativity is a key point for the competition and Lunettes de France give a competitive edge with customers making the differences.
Two centuries after its creation, our industry is more than ever alive everywhere
as a global player, an ambassador of French excellence integrating creativity and technology.